in july time had come to head off on vacations and since the north of germany charmed us in lots of ways the years prior we again decided to make our way up there again. unfortunately we didn't went back to fehmarn island ( as it was our plan initially, alas, we didn't find a place to stay this time around ), but in the end it didn't turn out to be a bad thing as we got the chance to visit a different region and explore more of another area in schleswig-holstein. on prior visits to the baltic sea we made a day trip to the little city of eckernförde and we had pretty good memories of that experience. thus we decided to make eckernförde our headquarter for two weeks. and what can i say, i'm a huge lover of the baltic sea & the north of germany and i enjoyed it so, so much, even if it wasn't my beloved island of fehmarn. eckernförde is not far away from the capital of schleswig-holstein, kiel, and it's also not far off the borders to denmark. this is especially nice if you ever get bored of your surroundings and want to have more action ( or less, that is ) and like day trips. for more action/city life you can drive to kiel in 20 minutes ( or to other cities like flensburg / hamburg ) but for a lesser turbulent time you can head up to the upper tip of germany and explore the serene & less populated regions there ( or head off for a stint to denmark if you please ). for me personally, eckernförde was a wonderful place to stay at. it is not too big, not too small, the life there is the perfect mix of calm & busy as it's a tourist destination for many people in the north but still retains the feeling of a provincial town. we stayed at a lovely couple's house ( both retirees with a passion for music ) who always were up to give recommendations for what to do, invited us for coffee & cake on some afternoons, or one time to a little brass band concert in the hüttener berge. we are often very lucky with our accommodation picks and i have to admit that i really like getting to know our landlords and listen to their stories & what they do in life etc. it really always enhances our vacations. which is strange, because i am actually not very much into socializing, but on vacation and with my parents being around as well, it always feels like a breeze getting to know new people.
anyway, like always i made lots of photos and without further ado i will shut up now & let the pictures speak again. on our first evening we made our way down into the city ( we stayed a little off the center in borby ) and made a walk around the harbour.
mermaid of eckernförde - a statue by eckhard kowalke. she is called mareminde by the citizens of eckernförde.
eckernförde has lots of brickstone buildings all over the city ( which is just typical for northern germany ). brickstones & timber-frames are my favourites so of course i was in heaven. this banana yellow cutiepie was something else. what i really love about the city brickstones in northern germany is the fact that the facades are always so colourful. it is never only the brown, red, sand-coloured variety you get in other parts of germany, but always washed in the most amazing colours.
stumbled upon an old volkswagen type 2.
a white-washed brickstone house.
the old seminar. a lot of teachers were trained in this building in the past, but now it is an outpost of the local tax office. built in 1883/85 it clearly shows you a clinker construction that's actually not that typical for the northern regions, but was a trend that architects followed all over germany. still is a nice building.
a view on the rundsilo ( round silo ) from the borby shores. borby was once its own little village ( a resort actually! ) until it was incorporated into eckernförde. the harbour side is really nice around here, i love the red wooden dockyard buildings.
the siegfried shipyard, which is now a hotel & restaurant. beautiful, beautiful building it is!
inner harbour with rundsilo.
nice old fishing boats.
and the view to the outer harbour, with more expensive yachts on the left.
the rundsilo is one of the main landmarks of eckernförde. it was erected in 1931/1932 by heinrich hansen & was initially used for storing grains. it's a remarkable example of the architectural style new objectivity. it was a style that was really important in germany around the 1920ies to 1940ies, and worldwide it's actually known under the name of bauhaus architecture. it's a rather minimalistic style, main attention for these buildings was functionality, not whether it was aesthetically pleasing or overly decorated or representative. with its massiveness & beamy exterior it still looks rather impressive and dare i say, human beings developed a sense of aestheticism to bauhaus architecture anyway. the easy lines & symmetric elements surely are easy on the eyes. today there's a restaurant in this building: luzifer.
a random driveway, which obviously isn't a driveway anymore ( much too beautiful for misusing it as such, haha ). there is another restaurant in this building: la taverna al porto.
these charming gables are just facade, the original buildings are from 1765 & 1898. they were adjusted to look the same. i do love the baroque/neo-renaissance details, though. especially the suns inside the gables.
nice historic facades. unfortunately i didn't shoot the right house properly, because in fact i liked it a whole lot more. it's an art nouveau building built in 1905 for a masonic lodge. nowadays you can actually live in this house. for the house on the left i couldn't find any information.
the top of the rundsilo with its golden angel. it's made of polyester resin and is the product of an initiative that was created by the late jochen hillers, a local hairdresser who was really dedicated to bring eckernförde forward in terms of quality of life and strengthening the community. there were 20 angels to be decorated & artistically modified for a charity project of the unicef and two of those angels you can now find in eckernförde.
former office house from 1737.
the rose of the north - hollyhocks.
i really liked the details on this house.
real roses & typical northern facade.
walking along the harbour.
this crow was battling an icecream cone and it was quite hilarious to witness. unfortunately my picture is awful, but i wanted to include it anyway.
new architecture on the harbour promenade. these are mostly tourist appartments. they were erected just recently.
this is the hafenspitze ( harbour peak ), which basically has the best view onto the eckernförde bay ( i guess? ). right next to it the old lighthouse from 1907. you can even see the new lighthouse in the background. i like the moon situation going on here ( little white dot in the upper part of the pictures. also the hafenspitze looks a bit like a cruising ship to me.
view to borby on the other side of the harbour ( where our vacation accommodation was situated ). very distinct in this picture: the church of borby.
a better picture of the borby panorama.
boats in the blue hour.
hafenspitze from a different angle. the canvas construction i actually like the most about this building.
little tuck tuck boaty.
the baltic sea info center from 2007/08. here you can learn everything about the baltic sea and its inhabitants, the underwater life & other important things to know about maritime life in general.
the new lighthouse.
view back to the hafenspitze with yacht harbour.
the new lighthouse was built in the 1980ies. i really like the triangle windows. it's generally pretty geometric, right?
those street lights are really dope! i love that they look like weapons.
canvas construction of the hafenspitze. its sculptural nature is so visually pleasing.
symmetries.
in one of the many restaurants of the hafenspitze you could take a look at really neat bicycles! loved this spiderweb one, with a spider right in the middle of the web. super cute! it's a custom stevens bike.
swinging bench lines.
brightly coloured boxes in front of a fishery.
appartment house of hotel siegfriedwerft. the little door on the right is so beautiful!
rundsilo catching the last rays of sunshine.
stumbled upon a police ass.
we made our way back to our accommodation and witnessed the best evening sky you can ask for.
also discovered some interesting family homes. notice the dot details in the gable! my guess for the era it was built in is the late 50ies, early 60ies. while it is modern, it still retains the old brickstone style so characteristic for houses of the german north.
wonderful example of an old house modernized with contemporary elements. love the blue windows and how it interacts with the grey-brown colours of the klinker facade! definitely a dream house!
part I of our eckernförde/baltic sea vacation is hereby finished! this was a first introduction to beautiful little eckernförde. stay tuned for more!
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